Saturday, 13 August 2011

The SNP and various commentators have been a pain in the neck this week in trying to distance Scotland from the riots down south .

I was out and about in Hamilton last night and there was a very visible (and unusual) police presence .
A good few more hoodies on the streets , as well . In fact , a good number of them recognised me as I staggered between pubs - "Awright , Sur ! When you coming back to Holy Cross ?"

Not only that , but , at about half 11 , two police cars , with sirens and lights on , sped down towards the area of the town where all the large electrical shops are located .

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Readers from the West of Scotland may recognise the railway station whose new sign is shown above . It serves the Glasgow East End community of Bridgeton , formerly a town in its own right , which has existed in the area since the late 18th Century . A hot-bed of Orangeism and Loyalism , containing the HQ of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland , it is very much a product of Lowland Scotland and the Industrial Revolution .

Scotrail , however , have decided that it is , in fact , Grannie's Heilan Hame , former seat of the High Kings of Teuchterdom , founded by Aoanghas of the Angry Red Beard in 426 (before the arrival of the Gaelic Irish invaders , like Scotland as a whole , it had no inhabitants) . It has merely been squatted in by the evil Sassenach incomers these past few years , the evil colonists who must be driven from this pure stronghold of Gaeldom .

At least , that would seem to be the only fantasy world in which it could possibly justify translating the name of a Lanarkshire town into Gaelic . It has never been written in Scots , where it would be "Brigton".

Here's mair of their p**h

I've already seen another one at Rutherglen , but can't find a photo .

Why not have them written in Urdu or Polish ? That would fit the demographic a lot more snugly .

Or could it be that Anti-Scottish professional Gaels wish to impose their language upon we natives as part of an opportunistic cultural power-grab ?

Ochone ! Ochone !

Scots is the language of Lowland Scotland , augmented by Scottish Standard English for formal occasions . Gaelic has been nowhere in sight since the early Middle Ages (unless you were hanging about in certain isolated villages in Galloway , of course).

They're getting me angry , these people . And I used to sympathise with their efforts to hang onto their own culture . They should let us hang on to ours .

Sunday, 3 July 2011

On Thursday, Ed Miliband gave an interview to ITV about the public sector strikes. To say that it wasn’t a success is an understatement. Not since George Brown used to go on television smashed out of his wits has a Labour politician made such a hash of things.Miliband was asked six different questions about the strikes. He replied: “These strikes are wrong at a time when negotiations are under way. The Government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner. It is time for both sides to set aside the rhetoric.”Fair enough, you may think – but he gave the same answer six times, irrespective of the question. His voice was robotic, his eyes glazed; even his interviewer, Damon Green, was freaked out, as he later confessed. At any moment, you expected a hypnotist to step forward, snap his fingers, and say: “You’re back in the room now, Ed.”For the Tories, truly this is the gift that keeps on giving. Treat him gently, Dave.

Monday, 20 June 2011

Saturday, 7 May 2011

While gloating over the election results I chanced upon this table on the BBC's website .

(click to enlarge)

I was looking to see how many seats our former masters in the Labour Party had lost . As I was scanning the table , I saw that the Conservatives are down as losing 5 seats , holding 15 .

Haud on !

The Conservatives had 17 seats in the last Parliament (if you include Alex Fergusson , the Presiding Officer , or Speaker).

I make that only 2 losses .

Further investigation shows that something strange has happened with these BBC statistics . They have both Dumfriesshire and Eastwood down as Labour gains from the Conservatives .
This is not the case . Both seats were Labour-held before the election .

Why would our National broadcaster wish to maximise Conservative losses and minimise Labour ones ? Are they not bound by law to be impartial ?

PS. I notice that even The Daily Telegraph is using the same dishonest graphic presentation .
It is identical to the BBC one and seems to have been copied from the same source .